Northgate initiative aims to close ICT’s gender gap
A Northern Ireland business is aiming to bridge the gender gap in employment impacting on the ICT sector here. Service provider Northgate Managed Services is helping almost 800 girls aged 10-14 consider future careers in the sector through the CC4G (Computer Club for Girls) project. Developed by e-skills UK with funding from Northgate it is...
ChefSkills competition serves up success for our young culinary talents
Competitors from across Northern Ireland have taken part in the recent bi-annual ChefSkills competition in Belfast ChefSkills, which is sponsored by the Department for Employment and Learning, is a three-day competition where participants compete for a number of titles including the coveted Chef of the Year Award. A number of students from the Republic of...
Closer links sought for higher education in Northern Ireland, Republic and the US
Higher education partnerships between Northern Ireland, the Republic and the US will help further international co-operation, according to Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry. He was speaking recently at a meeting in Queen’s University of the alumni of the US State Department funded study group which visited Boston and Michigan in November 2011. The...
Best Support for SEN pupils is smaller class size
New funding for Special Educational Needs is sending mixed messages, according to a leading Northern Ireland educationalist. Avril Hall Callaghan, General Secretary of the locally-based Ulster Teachers’ Union, welcomed SEN support scholarships for school support staff in England but warned that it would not suit the NI model. “The SEN sector here is in the...
Best of vocational training strategy rolled out to impress Swiss visitors
Swiss educationalists are looking to Northern Ireland for best practice when it comes to vocational training. Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry recently hosted a delegation from Switzerland’s Federal Office to discuss the province’s Skills Strategy. Mr Farry said: “Last year I launched the Northern Ireland Skills Strategy, Success through Skills – Transforming Futures,...
Top marks for Colleges
The excellence of Northern Ireland’s further education colleges has been recognised at a gala event in Parliamnent Buildings’ Long Gallery. It was organised to mark the growing number of key awards and acknowledgements being by the sector. Speaking at the recent event Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “This is a celebration of...
Jobless given the skills to succeed
Over 70 people from Belfast and Lisburn have completed the latest round of the HARTE programme which provides job training opportunities in the hospitality and retail sector for the long-term unemployed. The Hospitality and Retail Training for Employment (HARTE) initiative is jointly funded by Belfast City Council, Lisburn City Council and the European Social Fund and...
Now that’s what you call a big night for students
Over 100 adults with learning difficulties have been honoured at the NOW Graduation Event in Belfast’s City Hall. NOW, a charitable organisation which delivers the Department for Employment and Learning’s Workable NI scheme, provides a range of quality training and supported employment services to adults with learning difficulties. Attending the event Employment and Learning Minister,...
Seminar focuses on youth wellbeing
The first in a series of training seminars to help improve the lives of children and young people in Northern Ireland has taken place at Queen’s University. Representatives from government, policy, integrated planning and academia are coming together to discuss the outcomes of the Ten Year Strategy for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland. The...
Bright sparks scoop NIE scholarships
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the electricity network company, has awarded two top electrical engineering students a Scholarship worth £24,000 each. Daniel Robinson and Mark Lindsay are the first students to benefit from the NIE Electrical Engineering Scholarship Programme, which is being run in conjunction with Queen’s University Belfast. The scholarship is open to first year electrical...